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Noob

About 3 years ago I tried to streamline an online sales process for customers to select, negotiate, finance and trade, and ultimately purchase a vehicle without ever stepping foot in the dealership. Even though it didn't work out, remnants of the process remain in one form or another on our website.

After looking at Shop-Click-Drive, hearing a pitch on Autotrader's product with a similar function, and seeing another post about Penske's similar widget and Autonation's, I'm wondering if the technology and the culture (of shoppers and dealers) has caught up with the concept.

Has anyone else had a good experience with a similar product/process (because it is neither and both at the same time - A website button with management support is just a broken link.

Super Moderator

From my shopper research to date, car dealer's are too important to shoppers for ecommerce to impact the biz.

Joe

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By no means will it be all of them or the sort of paradigm shift that sees in-dealership sales decrease, but buying on cars is already happening now, so there's no point in denying it's existence. I would rather never set foot in a dealership again - I would like to purchase my next car online, including all back-office options, and have it delivered. I see no reason why this isn't possible with Carvana quality information and a proper shipping procedure.

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Noob

What is the hang up to the process? Where is the hesitation? If you watch the video on beepi's homepage, one of the main reassurances is the "vehicle inspection process" and the no hassle money back guarantee. Which seems designed to pre-emptively handle peoples fears of buying a used car without seeing it first. But new cars are new, and still not a lot of traction on the product. ( Shop click drive)
So is the industry not ready? Or is this where we are going? I do feel this is a big discussion.

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Jr. Refresher

I don't see us becoming a true e-commerce industry, entire purchase completed online, anytime soon. But I have been researching different tools available for our websites that can help the customer complete more of the process before arriving at the store. Does anyone here use and have experience with the Digital Retail Suite offered by DealerTrack and Dealer.com? Or the new Cox product, MakeMyDeal? If so, please share.

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Getting Refreshed

I just don't see us going to a completely online e-commerce delivery model any time soon. I think buying a car is more like buying a house. I would not purchase my home by looking at pictures of it online even with a money back guarantee. It's still a very emotionally driven decision and an expensive one at that.

Jeff Kershner, the DealerRefresh team columnist and its experienced community of automotive professionals offer advice and insight gained from years in the industry. Through articles, posts, threads and opinions the DealerRefresh community provides valuable knowledge for any level at the dealership. We would be honored to have you join our our growing community.